Knitting and Mental Health: How Knitting Helps Reduce Stress

Let’s talk about knitting and mental health. First, knitting allows us to concentrate on a single task for 1 to 4 hours. Second, it’s only one of the few hobbies that allow us to produce something tangible (and something to be proud of).

How does concentration help in improving mental health? Notice that while watching TV or browsing through our Facebook feed, our mind’s all over the place. It’s hard to focus which makes us feel disorganised. In addition, we always feel that our time’s wasted on those activities.

Knitting makes us feel focused and productive

In contrast, knitting “forces” us to focus on making that shawl, sweater or baby cap. Handicrafts and other manual tasks require us to focus and let go of all our worries and anxieties. It’s a relief that will give us peace of mind every day.

Knitting also makes us feel productive. Even after just an hour of knitting, we’ll already produce something tangible. We’ll feel that we did something worthwhile. No matter how small it is, whether it’s just a knitted baby sock or a full adult sweater, at the end of the day we have something to show and be proud of.

At first there’s a learning curve where we feel like struggling to get things right when knitting. But as we gain more skill, everything goes smooth and we’re able to focus like we’ve never done before. This is true no matter how young you are. Teens, adults, mums and the elderly all benefit from knitting.

The feeling of challenge and accomplishment

Well, knitting is difficult and can be frustrating at first. But once you get used to it, knitting delivers a different sense of satisfaction. This is especially the case when you’re tackling a complex pattern and design. It appears overwhelming at first.

The good thing is once you finished the project, the sense of accomplishment is on a different level. You made something challenging. The feeling gets even better when you see someone use or wear what you just made. The cycle of challenge and accomplishment helps achieve a better well being.